Lahore: A Frenchwoman flew from the Pakistani city of Lahore to Paris and back again after sleeping through the stop in the French capital because she had apparently taken sleeping pills, officials said on Wednesday.
The woman, identified as Patrice Christine Ahmed, had boarded Pakistan International Airlines flight PIA-7333 to Paris via Milan at noon on Tuesday.
She returned to Lahore on Wednesday after failing to get off in the French capital.
According to PIA officials, Ahmed remained asleep during the two-hour stopover at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris.
PIA spokesman Sultan Hasan said she had apparently taken sleeping pills as it was not possible for a passenger to sleep for so long inside a plane.
When the plane took off from Paris for Lahore, Ahmed woke up and realised she was going back to Pakistan.
She raised an alarm and asked the crew to take her back to Paris.
Ahmed was told that her request could not be entertained and she was asked to stay calm.
On her return to Lahore at 7 am after a 12,000-km round trip, immigration authorities stopped her and took up the matter with PIA.
"She is in transit and cannot leave the airport. We have arranged for her to travel back to Paris through Etihad Airlines tonight. However, an inquiry has been initiated and we will quiz the French ground handling staff at Paris to determine who was at fault," PIA spokesman Hasan said.
Hasan said PIA was bearing the cost of Ahmed's ticket to Paris but she would have to pay for it if the inquiry concluded she was at fault.
Ahmed is married to a Pakistani and had come to Lahore after the death of her father-in-law.
She stayed in Pakistan about 20 days.
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